Electrically operated garage door



April 6, 1943. R. M. WILDER ELECTRICALLY OPERATED GARAGE DOQR Filed April 7, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR- [Bil/BEN M 1451.052

ATTORNEY:

R. M. WILDER ELECTRICALLY OPERATED GARAGE DOOR April 6, 1943.

Filed April '7, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. 1 1T VV/L DEE REUBEN ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to power operated garage doors and particularly t an overhead type of door operated by an electric motor, both for opening as well as closing.

A feature of the invention is the provision of means whereby in case of failure of the electric current the door may be operated manually without disconnecting any of the mechanical equipment. Another feature of the invention is the provision of an electric motor operated door of this character which dispenses entirely with the use of gears.

Other advantages and features of the invention will appear in the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section showing the door closed, and the motor driven mechanism for operating the door.

Fig. 2 is an inside elevation of the left hand portion of the door of Fig. 1 and showing the door suspension and portion of the operating members.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section similar to that of Fig. 1 but showing somewhat more than the upper half of the doorway and with the door in open position.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional detail of Fig. 1 as seen from the line 44 thereof.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the installation looking in the opposite direction to the view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a small detail showing the inner end of the curved track of Fig. 3 as seen from above.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the motor drive of Fig. 1 and with a portion of the traveling nut cylinder broken open.

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 7 showing the traveling nut cylinder in section.

Fig. 9 is a cross section of Fig. 7 as seen along the line 9--9 thereof.

Fig. 10 is a cross section of a traveling nut of modified form from the nut shown in Fig. 9.

In further detail the drawings show a garage floor I, a garage door opening defined by vertical studs or jambs 2, an overhead horizontally disposed beam or lintel 3 and an overhead forward stop 4 and a roof or ceiling member 5. Also any suitable side wall construction 6 and 1.

Within the door opening is a vertically disposed door 8 shown closed in Figs. 1 and 2 and open in Fig. 3. This door is provided at a point a little more than half of its height with a couple of short rods Or pipes hereinafter termed axles 9 which are locally flattened and secured to the door as by bolts I0 and which axles extend horizontally along the door adjacent its edges and somewhat-beyond the same as shown in Fig. 4, and adjacent the end of each axle is a forwardly projecting stud or crank arm 20 with a transversely extending hole in its end and to which is pivotally secured the end of 8. depending chain 2|, the chain being of the alternate single and double link variety and the two outer links straddling the end of the stud, and a suitable pin 22 being passed through the holes in the links and the stud. This chain extends vertically in the corners of the garage and over a small sprocket 23 which is secured at one end of a horizontally disposed overhead shaft 24 rotatably supported at its opposite ends in bearing 25 secured either to the forward portion of the garage structure or to the side walls, as may be most convenient. This chain arrangement is of course duplicated at both vertical edges of the door, and on one side of the door (see Fig. 6) the chain 2| passes along horizontally adjacent the roof of the garage or another supporting member and over an idler pulley 26 suitably anchored to the garage ceiling as by bracket 21, and at the end of the chain is a counterweight 28.

At the upper inner corners of the door (when closed) and in line with the upper ends of guide bars 34 are channel-like tracks H which are preferably arched upwardly as indicated and which each extend from adjacent the door rearwardly into the garage. Each track is secured at its forward end, as by attached connecting lugs [2 to guide bar 34 and also to the inside of jamb 2 as by bolts, while at the rearward end the track may be entirely free, though I prefer to provide a laterally extending leg i3 which may be bolted as at M to the side wall of the garage or other fixed support, or the leg may extend upward for securing to the upper part of the garage. The arched channel tracks have their open sides extending toward the opposite wall of the garage, and they are preferably rigidly braced as by angle brace l5 which are welded, or riveted at their upper ends to the tracks and at their lower ends to a rigid member such as the guide bars 3i. Instead of the tracks being made of channel iron sections, they may of course be built up by suitably tying two fiat arched strips together in spaced relation if channel irons with deep enough legs or of proper size happen not to be available.

Operating in each channel track is a roller I6 carried at the end of a short axle or piece of pipe I! in turn secured as by bolts l8 to the upper inner margin of the door, and which roll in the tracks from position shown in Figs. 1 and 5 with the door closed, to position of Fig. 3 with the door open. By arching the tracks as shown, a smoother action is obtained.

n the opposite wall (see Fig. i) from that at which the counterweight is used, the chain 2| passes over a floating pulley 29 and is returned in a direction toward the door, and has its free end anchored to a fixed anchorage plate 3| secured to the side wall of the garage. The floating pulley 29 is suitably linked as by connections 30 and through the intermediary of a turn buckle adjusting nut 32 to the outer end 33 a of a horizontally moving reciprocable power rod 39 which will be more fully described later.

Returning now to the door construction, it will be noted that on the two vertical jambs 2 of the doorway there is a vertical guide bar 34 preferably of hard wood which overlies the axle member 9 and is spaced at the lower end as by a block 35 and firmly secured to the vertical jamb member as by bolts 36 so as to form a vertical slot l2 or guide freely embracing that portion of the axle members 9 which extends horizontally beyond the limits of the door 8. At the lower end of the slot formed by the member 34 is preferably a block of rubber or other resilient material as indicated at 31 upon which the extended portion of the axle 9 rests when at the lower end of the slot and determines the lowermost position of the door so as to provide a slight clearance between its lower edge and the floor of the garage as indicated at 38 in Fig. 1. Returning now to the power rod 39, as best shown in Figs. 7 and 8, this comprises a pair of rods 39 which pass slidably through openings in the end closure 40 of a long tube or pipe 4| and into the pipe and are secured at their inner ends to opposite margins of a traveling nut member 42 positioned within the pipe. The pipe is provided with brackets 43 preferably welded to it and which brackets are bolted as at 44 to a rigid base plate 45 for securing as a unit to the garage wall or ceiling as by bolts 46. Traveling nut member 42 is pierced by a central hole between the two rods 39 and which hole is threaded and receives a long threaded rod 41 which extends through a closure 48 on the opposite end of pipe or tube 4| and is connected to the shaft 49 of an electric motor 50, also mounted on base plate 45. The connection of the threaded rod 41 to the motor shaft is preferably done by means of a flexible rubber tube section, or other flexible coupling 5|.

The threaded rod 41 is free from threads for the distance where it passes through the closure 48 and is there fitted with a combined annular and thrust ball bearing 52 which is pressed in a recess formed within the closure 48. Closures 40 and 48 may be threaded and screwed over the outer ends of the pipe member as indicated.

In the inner surface of closure 40 is preferably formed a seat in which is placed a hardened steel ball 53 against which the hollowed out end of the threaded rod impinges so as to function as a thrust hearing at this point. The thrust in the opposite direction may be taken up by a collar 54 secured to the rod 41 close to the ball bearing 52.

Traveling nut 42 as shown in Fig. 9 may be of round cross section and slotted as at 55 at its upper and lower edges, and each slot rides along a key or spline member 56 secured along the wall of the tube or pipe 4| as by welding at one or two places. This prevents the nut 42 from turning as the threaded rod is revolved by the motor.

Instead of the construction as shown in Fig. 9 a square tube may be used as shown at 4| in Fig. 10 and a square nut as shown at 42' in this figure. The corners of the square nut are cut off as indicated to provide a space functioning the same as the space 56 around the round nut of Fig. 9 to permit grease and oil within the tube to go by and not force it all out at one end. It is presumed that in use the tube 4| will be partially filled with soft grease or very thick oil so that the traveling nut and its .thread will be kept constantly and permanently lubricated.

The electric motor is of the reversing type for use in opening or closing the door either from an outside as well as from an inside switch in the well known way, but which is not described in detail in this application as the electric wiring for such switches is well known.

At the protruding ends of the power rods 39 they are connected together as by a member 33 with a bolt 51 passing through and to which member 33 the link connection 3| is pivotally secured.

From the above description it will be seen that the weight of the door is normally balanced by the counterweight 28'which may be at either side wall of the garage, and that in order to move the door the electrical power applicator through its power rod and pulley connection 29 exerts a pull on one of the chains 2| which passes over one of the sprockets 23 and connects to the projecting stud 2|) from the axle 9. Since sprocket 23 is secured to shaft 24 it operates the other sprocket 23 at the opposite end of the shaft to likewise wind up the chain 2| at that side and exert the same pull on the stud of the axle'9 as is exerted on the opposite side. The counterweighted door will thus first be tipped inwardly by reason of the cranks 20 about a center struck from the center of pipes 9 seated at the lower ends of the guide slots l2 and thus lifted bodily by the pull on the chains. After the door has tipped slightly inward it will start upward along the arched tracks and with the axles l9 sliding upward along the vertical guides 34, and at the same time the rollers l6 will travel up the arched tracks H at both sides of the garage to bring the door to the horizontal overhead position shown in Fig. 3. A reverse movement of the power rods will of course lower the door through the same movements to the starting vertical closed position.

It is manifest that instead of the chain 2| being extended from sprocket 23 to pass clear around the pulley 29 and back to the anchorage plate 3|, the portion of the chain not passing over the sprocket may be a piece of rope or cable to save the expense of such a long piece of chain.

It is also manifest that the length of the chain or cable passing around the pulley 29 and extending to the anchorage plate 3|, while it is shown extending downwardly in Fig. 1, in case of suflicient head room, may extend upwardly or to either side, itonly being shown in the position of the drawing for convenience as it is immaterial in which particular plane it lies, all depending on where a suitable support is for the fixed anchorage 3|, though there is less interference from the slack in the chain when operating the door by hand if the anchorage is above.

Also secured to the bight of the rope or chain 2| extending to the anchorage 3| may be a light downwardly pulling spring anchored to the the door and of 2,315,571 side wall of the garage as at 59 or small counterweight 58 for taking up the slack in the chain or rope in case the door is operated by hand and not by power. The slack in the chain on the opposite side of the garage is of course taken up by the counterweight 28 which is also heavy enough stated to balance most of the weight of the door while leaving suflicient unbalanced weight to start it toward closing position.

When the apparatus is operated electrically it is manifest that the current of the motor must be shut ofi by the time the traveling nut has arrived adjacent one end of the tube 4| and similarly at the opposite end, and to eiiect this purpose a suitable snap switch designated as enclosed in a casing 50 mounted on the base plate 45 is provided with a pivoted operating lever 6| which swings in the arc indicated and is provided with a spring 62 operating in a slot 83 in the base plate 45 which will snap the lever over center to either final position if the lever is first moved from one final position to a point slightly over center in the well known manner of snap switch construction. A flexible connection such as a ball chain 53 is connected from the lever 6| to bolt 51 of the traveling rods, so that as the rods travel back and forth, when they come to a pre-determined position the chain will have carried the lever 6| over the vertical center line X and at which the spring 62 will snap the lever the remaining distance as shown in the dotted line, and reversely upon the opposite movement of the rods.

The switch mechanism which is within the box 60 is not illustrated as it is of well known construction to effect the following operations. At opposite ends of movement of switch lever arm 6| the circuit to the motor is cut off and at the same time its wiring is reversed, so that the next time the circuit is completed the motor will run in the opposite direction and cause the traveling nut to move to the opposite end 01' the tube 4|. Suitable wiring not shown is installed to suitable switches preferably both in and out of the garage for re-establishing the circuit at either point, but as stated all such electric wiring being well known and not part of the actual invention no showing of it is made in the drawings as no claim is entered thereto.

From the construction described it will be evident by the use of the flexible chains or ropes at 2|" connecting to the power rods, that the door may be freely operated by hand at any time without running the motor at all, as the slack in the chain occasioned by opening the door will fall of itself or be taken up by the spring 58 on one side, (or a small counterweight if used in place of the spring), and at the other side of the door the large counterweight 28 substantially balances course prevents any slack developing in the chain or rope at that side. Thus the invention provides an overhead door which is freely operable by hand at any time, and yet is always connected up for operation by the electric motor. Also to be observed is that the motor connection is entirely free from any gearing and that the required reduction of speed is secured by the threaded rod and traveling nut operating in an enclosed oil container and with the entire power unit mounted on a base complete with the 'novel features and mode of motor reversing switch, in a manner for installing as a unit.

Having thus described my invention and its operation, what I claim is:

1. A power operated door operating device comprising an elongated threaded bar, a pipe of substantially larger internal diameter than and embracing said threaded bar, closures on the ends of said pipe forming of it a grease tight receptacle and supporting said threaded bar for rotation and through one of which closures said bar rotatably projects, means for making a power connection to the projecting end of said bar for rotating the same, a threaded nut on said threaded bar free to travel back and forth in said pipe when the bar is rotated, means preventing said nut from turning as said bar is rotated, a passageway for grease between said nut and said pipe, and a rod secured at one end to said nut extending along the threaded bar in the pipe and slidably extending out of a hole in one of said closures, and means at the outer end of said rod adapted for making a power connection.

2. A power operated door operating device comprising an elongated threaded bar, a pipe of substantially larger internal diameter than and embracing said threaded bar, closures on the ends of said pipe forming of it a grease tight receptacle and supporting said threaded bar for rotation and through one of which closures said bar rotatably projects, means for making a power connection to the projecting end of said bar for rotating the same, a threaded nut on said threaded bar free to travel back and forth in said pipe when the bar is rotated, means preventing said nut from turning as said bar is rotated, a passageway for grease between said nut and said pipe, and a pair of rods secured at one end each to spaced points on said nut extending along the threaded bar in the pipe and slidably extending out of a hole in one of said closures, and means at the outer ends of said rods adapted for making a power connection.

3. In a structure as set out in claim 1, a base plate, means adjacent said closures securing said pipe to said base plate, an electric motor secured to said base plate in axial alignment with the projecting end of said threaded bar, and means connecting the motor shafts to said projecting end.

4. In a structure as set out in claim 1, a collar secured to said threaded bar within said pipe adjacent the inner surface of the pipe closure through which said bar projects, and a thrust bearing between the closure at the opposite end of the pipe and the bar.

5. In a structure as set out in claim 2 the means for making a power connection to the outer ends of said rods including a yoke and a pulley block connected thereto and over which pulley block a power applying rope extends.

6. In a structure as set out in claim 1 the means to prevent the nut from turning comprising a spline secured to and extending within the pipe for the length thereof operating in a slot cut in the edge of the nut.

REUBEN M. WILDER. 

